Espresso en Bakfietsen
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Espresso is good. Bakfietsen are good. So why not combine them into mobile coffee vending trikes? It’s a business with low barrier to entry, catchy and probably fun too. Great idea and though you write us weekly to build such a beast… you’re actually not the first one to think of it. You might have first seen it on TV.
Around five years ago Paul Sabin from Kent, England bought a couple of our classic bakfietsen, fitted them with a gas-fired espresso machines and the necessary plumbing and called his business “Tradecycle”. It’s kind of like “Workcycles”, except a little different. Paul’s trikes were featured in an episode of “The Apprentice” on BBC1. Somebody’s coffee trikes were also featured on Eastenders, though I’m not sure whether they were Paul’s. Paul bought a couple more bikes over the next couple years but somehow the publicity didn’t jump-start their business. It has, on the other hand, generated an endless stream of potential entrepreneurs writing to WorkCycles to have one of these bikes made. The Tradecycle website is still online but they’re no longer in operation.
Below the original Tradecycle coffee trike. All were built on a WorkCycles chassis but each one was a little different from its predecessor.
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Meanwhile mobile coffee vending specialists Coffee Latino from the other end of England took a look at the offerings and decided they could do better. Being the only such vehicle in the world they also begin with a Workcycles classic bakfiets chassis as the basis. They then fit their Fracino LPG-fired espresso machines with gas and water plumbing that meet UK standards. It’s a fair guess that with a few modifications these systems will also meet the regulations of most other countries. These new coffee bakfietsen are sold under the name of On Your Trike. If you want a turn-key coffee trike you needn’t look any further; contact On Your Trike.
So will WorkCycles build you a complete espresso bakfiets / coffee trike? No, that’s just a bit too specialized for us. Thanks for asking but we’ll happily build you the chassis, box, canopy and stabilizer legs. Then the experts can select the most suitable espresso machine and coffee grinder, as well as safely rigging up gas, electricity and water in the same compact and mobile space. Only complicating matters further is that each country and sometimes municipality has its own laws about safety, food hygiene and mobile vending. Mobile coffee vending is thus a great idea but you’ll either have to contact On Your Trike or research and build it yourself.
Another customer, Sven Boerner in Leipzig, Germany did just that; He built his own beautiful espressobakfiets for his coffee vending business. You can check it out on Sven’s own site (in German language): Das Kaffeefahrrad
Meanwhile I was thinking about selling Dutch “peperkoek” (“spice cake”?) from a bakfiets but it doesn’t seem to be catching on.
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May 18th, 2010 at 15:21
Nice bikes, espresso… add a fresh, crisp pils on tap on there and you’ve got the most perfect object ever.
(The pictures are kinda big, would you resize them? Or is that just a problem for me and my IE6 at work?)
May 18th, 2010 at 15:28
Nicolas, Thanks. Beer certainly would be a nice addition but will probably have to be a partner trike parked next to the espressobakfiets; These bikes are already quite packed with equipment, plumbing and supplies.
May 18th, 2010 at 18:02
Oh… the pictures look the right size on the browsers/computers we use and I haven’t heard anybody else with problems (of course now you’ll all tell me the same); Must be an IE thing. Maybe time to try a better browser.
May 19th, 2010 at 22:11
definitely an IE6 thing (“It’s not a bug, it’s a feature”) :-0
Beautiful bakfietsen, if I ever spot one on my rides, I will stop, no matter what. Gotta have a fix(ie) like that
June 4th, 2010 at 19:37
Nice article in which your bikes are mentioned:
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6513RD20100603
June 7th, 2010 at 17:02
Go see the espresso bakfiets in Artis (amsterdam Zoo)
They have also bikes for selling soup, hotdogs and icecream.
June 7th, 2010 at 17:09
M,
Yes, we built those Artis bakfietsen. There are 15 of them in total and I’ve got lots of pictures on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/henryinamsterdam/sets/72157622897015546/
Maybe I’ll do a blog post about them.
June 13th, 2010 at 13:54
Hey,
Your link is very interesting and I’ll really wanna know how much such a Espresso trike/ bike costs? The whole logy costs. My email: degold_claudia@yahoo.de Thanks you!
June 13th, 2010 at 21:12
Hello Claudia,
One of the main points of the post was that WorkCycles does not offer complete Espresso Trikes. Please contact one of the firms discussed in the post. On Your Trike can certainly supply a complete bike to Germany, for example. Good luck!
November 24th, 2011 at 21:54
Please advise how to buy Espresso en Bakfietsen. My e-mail address: jurij@starlev.com.ua
Thank you!
Yuri Chopyk
January 11th, 2012 at 10:28
Hello!
We open in April 2012, a coffee at a lake in Markkleeberg. We would like to offer our coffee with a coffee bike.
Can you give us a contact. Where can we buy or build such a bike?
Thank you and best regards from Germany!
January 11th, 2012 at 10:51
Mandy,
Please contact us at Workcycles: info at workcycles dot com
We can supply the basic bike as described above or now we can also offer a completely equipped espresso trike.
January 24th, 2012 at 11:30
Hello,
If someone still reads this page can you please confirm why workcycles are not trading any more, what is the reason?
Regards
Tor
January 24th, 2012 at 11:50
Tor,
Workcycles is doing business as usual. I’ve no idea what you mean. Both of our shops are open today if you’ve any questions.
January 24th, 2012 at 12:02
Hello Henry,
ok, in the article above it said “The Tradecycle website is still online but they’re no longer in operation” so i thought this was the case.
I am myself a keen entrerenur and are building my own workbikes for own use and as a business and was only wondering how you feel this is as a business venture, are the profits sustainable and do you trade all year around?
Regards
Tor
January 24th, 2012 at 12:05
Hello Henry,
It’s me not reading the article correctly, it is tradecycle that is not opperating that i was checking out NOT workcycle.
My appologies, and no i am not building the bike just the unit that goes on top.
Cheers